JKLL’s Winning Formula: A Great Workplace Culture

In the contemporary business landscape, the significance of an organisation’s workplace culture cannot be overstated. It is often the driving force behind innovation, prosperity, and overall success. John Keells Logistics (JKLL), a leading third-party logistics (3PL) provider in Sri Lanka, has recently been recognised as a “Great Place To Work®” and was awarded at the event held at Shangri-La Colombo on  7th and 8th September this year. The awarding body, Great Place To Work®, is a renowned global authority on workplace culture which conducts a national recognition programme based on a rigorous methodology that includes validated employee feedback. 

JKLL received not one but three accolades at the ceremony, which are a testament to the company’s continued commitment to cultivating an exceptional work environment. JKLL was recognised as one of the ‘Top 15 Best Workplaces™ for Millennials in Sri Lanka’, received the ‘Great Place to Work Certification™’,  and ranked as the 8th ‘Best Workplace in the Small Workplaces’ category (among workplaces with 100-500 employees) of the Best Workplaces™ in Sri Lanka List. 

The core of JKLL’s success is its unwavering commitment to nurturing an engaging, empowering, and inclusive workplace culture. The company has initiated a pivotal transformation, transitioning from a conventional top-down decision-making paradigm to a decentralised model to foster a more collaborative and solution-oriented ethos among the workforce.

Similarly, JKLL places substantial emphasis on open communication and collaboration. It conducts quarterly strategy cascading sessions involving every executive-and-above-level employee within the organisation. An open-door policy exists with the CEO, providing employees with unrestricted access to the leadership. In addition, through multi-channel collaboration each employee’s perspectives, ideas, and opinions are actively solicited and valued in the decision-making process.

With relation to the domain of training and development, JKLL has demonstrated a remarkable commitment to addressing skill gaps and actively nurturing leadership competencies while increasing the training hours threefold, amounting to more than 36 hours per employee. The organisation has made substantial investments in individualised development plans to develop a more capable and cohesive workforce. This continued commitment to employee development is a contributing factor in the company’s achievements of these accolades. 

Additionally, JKLL promotes an inclusive environment by celebrating the professional and personal accomplishments of every employee along with a myriad of employee engagement initiatives, including cultural celebrations. This approach fosters a culture of recognition and appreciation—which is complemented by the exceptional benefits the employees enjoy from both the  business and its parent company, John Keells Holdings PLC. To further enhance employee engagement, JKLL is also deeply committed to people-centric corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. 

These awards are a significant accomplishment for JKLL as they validate that the company’s efforts to change the culture of the workplace are showing promising results. In the words of  John Keells Group Transportation Sector Head of HR Operations Maliyadewa Ranasinghe, “These awards reflect that our efforts within the company are indeed in alignment and on the right path, and our employees have accepted and embraced this transformation with a resoundingly positive outlook.” 

JKLL is steadfast in its commitment to continuing to be a Great Place To Work®and in ensuring that its workforce is well-prepared for the organisation’s future growth trajectory. As a leader in the logistics industry in Sri Lanka, with a predominantly millennial workforce amounting to 58% of the total workforce, JKLL recognises that continuous cultivation of an exceptional workplace culture is paramount for achieving its goal of ‘Enriching Lives and Connecting the Nation by Empowering Businesses’.

John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH), is Sri Lanka’s largest listed conglomerate on the Colombo Stock Exchange, operating with over 70 companies in 7 diverse industry sectors. With a history of over 150 years, the John Keells Group provides employment to over 14,000 persons and has been ranked as Sri Lanka’s ‘Most Respected Entity’ for the last 18 Years by LMD magazine. John Keells Holdings PLC has placed first for the third consecutive year in the ‘Transparency in Corporate Reporting Assessment’ by Transparency International Sri Lanka. Whilst being a full member of the World Economic Forum and a participant of the UN Global Compact, JKH drives its CSR vision of “Empowering the Nation for Tomorrow” through the John Keells Foundation and through the social entrepreneurship initiative, ‘Plasticcycle’, which is a catalyst in significantly reducing plastic pollution in Sri Lanka.